Oklahoma girl, 6, shares accident survival story

Monday

Dec 4, 2017 at 10:11 AMDec 4, 2017 at 10:11 AM

By Joy Hampton The Norman Transcript, Okla. (TNS)

NORMAN, Okla. — When three Norman family members died in a car crash on Turner Turnpike in March, they left behind a grieving family. But while Linda Danette Smith Irie, 50, and her grandchildren, Brooklynn Estelle Newville, 9, and Jace Braxton Newville, 5, lost their lives that day, there was one miracle.

Amazingly, Isabella Anthony, the 6-year-old cousin of Brooklynn and Jace, survived the wreck and has been joining her great uncle, Shawn Irie, to tell the story that texting and driving kills.

"It's amazing how she knows what happened, she knows where (Brooklynn and Jace) are and she knows that she'll see them again," Shawn said of Isabella's belief in heaven. "She's sad because they were her favorite cousins."

Due to smoke on the turnpike, cars had stopped backing up traffic that day when Linda Irie came to a stop in her 2008 Saab 97X.

Despite reports of clear skies and good visibility in Irie's area, a 17-year-old man from Durango, Colorado, driving a 1999 Ford F350 rear-ended the Saab, forcing her car to collide with two other vehicles. Officials told the family evidence indicates the driver was reading a text at the time.

Isabella's father, Stephen Anthony, said when he saw his Aunt Linda's car, he knew it was a miracle that his daughter survived. Stephen believes Isabella was left to bear witness to what happened and to help Shawn share the message that distracted driving kills.

Shawn has made it his mission to travel the state speaking to high schoolers on the dangers of distracted driving, and often Isabella accompanies him. Their message is that we need to care enough to pay attention while driving and allow everyone to get home safely.

"It's a simple message, but it's a message that just isn't talked about enough," Shawn said.

Shawn and Isabella share their message with teens through the Oklahoma Challenge Project. The project focuses on teen leaders with the belief that if they take this message back to their friends, peer-to-peer sharing will have the greatest effect on teen attitudes.

Recently, Gov. Mary Fallin commended Shawn for his life-saving work with the Oklahoma's Challenge teen to teen distracted driving program.

Isabella's story of survival

Isabella survived the crash with minor injuries. She was flown to OU Children's Hospital where she was treated and released. She believes she was saved by angels.

"Basically she was folded in half with her feet up by her head," Shawn said. "She was in the vehicle for an hour and a half."

While emergency responders raced to the scene and worked to remove her, Isabella believes she experienced a miracle.

"She told her father that Jesus came to her and told her that it wasn't her time, and she would be OK," Shawn said.

Isabella said angels came to her aid, soothing and comforting her.

"She didn't have a single broken bone, and she sat four inches away from Brooklyn," Stephen said. "It's a miracle. I can't make sense of it. Even the detectives can understand how she's alive."

Stephen said when Linda Irie set out that day, he never dreamed it would be the last time he would see her, Brooklynn or Jace alive.

"My son was actually going to be in the car with them," Stephen said. "The only reason he wasn't was because I had to get him a pair of shoes."

When the call came that Isabella had been in an accident, Stephen thought it was a fender-bender. He learned en route that they were sending a helicopter for his daughter, but no mention was made of the other children.

"We all thought it was my daughter that had passed away because of the helicopter," Stephen said. "There was so much traffic. The anxiety and stress skyrocketed."

His cousin Shanee' Newville, who lost both her children, was first on the scene. When he learned Brooklynn and Jace were gone, he was devastated. His son and wife started praying.

Stephen never made it to the wreck. Hearing that Isabella had been flown from the scene, he turned around and headed to the hospital. His greatest fear was that his daughter would die alone, before the family could reach her.

"I thought she was going to die because she was sitting right beside (Brooklynn)," he said.

He called church members to go to the hospital so Isabella wouldn't be alone.

"I was preparing myself mentally that she might not make it," Stephen said. "It was very humbling, not being able to do anything."

When they arrived at the hospital, they found eight people from their church praying over Isabella.

"The doctor told me something was wrong with her legs," Stephen said. "She had a mark on her face and bruising all over the left side."

Isabella couldn't walk, and they feared that she had broken her back. Stephen believes prayer healed her. In a short time, Isabella was able to get up and walk, and her injuries seemed to heal very quickly.

"She said Jesus told her to stay calm," he said. "I took her home that night and took her to church the next morning."

The pain and loss that Brian and Shanee' experience haunts him.

"Every night when I tuck her into bed, I give my daughter an extra hug, but I feel guilty," Stephen said. "The grief and the pain that they feel is something I feel I'm supposed to be sharing with them."

Justice has been elusive

Isabella's family has known tragedy before. Linda's sister Diane was murdered years ago in Texas. Diane was Stephen's mother and died before her granddaughter Isabella was born.

Stephen said Diane's killer shot his mother in the head and confessed, but the man was released on bond and left the state.

Ten years later, that same man stabbed a woman in another state. He was supposed to be extradited to Texas after serving that sentence, but Texas authorities said he fell through the cracks.

He never stood trial for Diane's murder.

When Diane died, Stephen said Linda practically raised him.

"My aunt was a really good person," he said.

On Dec. 8, a Lincoln County judge will determine whether the man who drove his truck into Linda's car is certified as an adult.

For the family, that decision will determine whether justice can be served.

Because that driver was 17 at the time — just days away from his 18th birthday — if he isn't certified as an adult there is little the state can do to punish him.

Juveniles who commit crimes but turn 18 before they are tried and convicted fall through the cracks due to a loophole in Oklahoma law. Technically, they have aged out of the juvenile system, but because they committed the crime as a juvenile, they can't be incarcerated in an adult prison either.

"I forgave him from the beginning," Stephen said. "But he needs some kind of consequences. My grandparents, they have never received justice for anything.

"There is a difference between cold-bloodedly killing somebody and accidentally killing somebody. I don't know what the sentence needs to be, but there needs to be some kind of restitution. My grandmother just wants to hear him say he's sorry, but we haven't even gotten that from him."

Despite his great joy at Isabella's survival, Stephen said he struggles with guilt that he has his daughter while Brian and Shanee' lost both their children.

In particular, he thinks of Brian when he tucks his daughter in at night.

"I have a miracle right here, and I want to share it with the world," Stephen said, but that feeling is not separate from the deep grief he and the rest of the family feel at the loss of the others.

"Our whole family is just shattered from this. It's horrible, but we have to go on with life."

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